Mobily Goes Point-to-multipoint to Backhaul its HSPA Network

­Cambridge Broadband Networks says that Saudi Arabian operator Mobily has awarded it a significant contract for the provision of its VectaStar, point-to-multipoint, microwave backhaul platform for the backhaul its HSPA network.

The initial deployment was in Saudi Arabia's capital city, Riyadh, in 2008, with installations also underway in the Western Region (Jeddah, Mekah and Medinah), the Eastern Province (Al-Khobar , Dammam and Dhahran) as part of its plans to expand its VectaStar network nationwide.

"Our HSPA network continues to grow quickly, and our backhaul network needs to be able to cope with rapidly increasing data traffic," said Nasser Al-Nasser, Mobily's CTO-MRN. "VectaStar provides us with the capacity and scalability we need to get new services to our customers before our competitors. It is unique in its ability to optimise and statistically-multiplex mobile broadband data traffic from our 3.75G base stations. Furthermore, its support for a wide variety of traffic protocols gives us great confidence in its ability to support our current and future ventures."

Mobily's mobile data network is claimed to be the busiest in the world, with 800,000 HSPA subscribers signing up in 18 months and HSPA service coverage reaching 326 cities, regions and areas in the Kingdom, covering 75% of the population.

Cambridge Broadband Networks' value added reseller, WiConnect, is responsible for the systems integration of Mobily's VectaStar network.

Posted to the site on 5th October 2009